Speculative Fiction Authors Panel & Signing [10/03/26]

We love sci-fi, fantasy, magical realism, and horror because they help us escape into other worlds — but that’s not the whole story. From cyberpunk heists to romps through haunted woods, what does speculative fiction teach us about ourselves? How can an Avatar novelization or space-themed horror help us imagine a better world?

On Saturday, October 3, come find out! As part of the Malden Cosplay Celebration, the owners of Nebula Books will moderate a thought-provoking conversation featuring four incredible authors, who will share their experiences writing speculative fiction, the value of underrepresented voices in the genre, and more.

During the panel, you’ll hear from:

📖 M.J. Anthony (The Awakening of Lora Abernathy)

📖 Allison King (The Phoenix Pencil Company)

📖 Ryan Marie Ketterer (Darkness Beyond the Stars: An Anthology of Space Horror)

📖 Makana Yamamoto (Hammajang Luck)

There will be an open audience Q & A portion.

You can also purchase these authors’ books from Nebula Books and Read My Lips Boston to be signed.

After the panel, you can:

✍️ Get your books signed during the author signing

📚 Shop more books and bookish merch from Nebula Books and Read My Lips Boston (until 5 PM!)

🍻 Enjoy delicious brews (and non-alcoholic drinks) from Idle Hands Craft Ales

🎭 Check out the rest of the Malden Cosplay Celebration!

About Nebula Books:

Nebula Books is a small, independent, used book pop-up shop based in Malden, Massachusetts. Specializing in science fiction, fantasy, and the macabre, Nebula curates books that explore the otherworldly. They take their namesake from the interstellar clouds where stars are born, the origin of the creation of all new worlds.

About Read My Lips Boston:

Read My Lips Boston is a Malden-based diverse romance bookshop whose curated selection of love stories centers authors and main characters identifying as BIPOC, disabled, queer, big-bodied, and members of other groups historically underrepresented in the romance genre. Read My Lips donates 10% of their proceeds to local and national non-profits and social causes.

About M.J. Anthony:

MJ Anthony is a queer, trans, and disabled poet + author writing through a fantasy, speculative, and magical realism lens. Some days they are incapacitated by one (or more) of their disabling conditions. Other days they get to be a caretaker at a local community library, and co-run Dragon Heart Press. All of those days find them living in Boston with their wife, three cats, and a lovely leopard gecko named Tumbleweed.

About Allison King:

Allison King is an Asian American writer and software engineer based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. In technology, her work has ranged from semiconductors to data privacy to public transportation. Her short stories have appeared in Fantasy Magazine, Diabolical Plots, and LeVar Burton Reads, among others. She is the author of The Phoenix Pencil Company, a 2025 Reese's Book Club pick, and also of Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender, a novelization of the animated movie. When she is not writing novels, she is writing code for the MBTA 🚂

About Ryan Marie Ketterer:

Ryan Marie Ketterer is an author and editor from Malden, Massachusetts, Her writing tends to lean into horror or weird fiction, but she doesn’t really believe in genres. Feel free to call her out on social media for this if you want. You can find her short fiction in Clarkesworld, Cosmic Horror Monthly, and various anthologies. She also dabbles in editing and writing longer works, some of which can be found from Salt Heart Press. She’s a fan of the weird and uncanny, and when she isn’t writing or editing, she is probably outside exploring.

About Makana Yamamoto:

Born on the island of Maui, Makana Yamamoto loves writing multicultural settings and queer characters, as well as imagining what the future might look like for historically marginalized communities. Their debut novel, Hammajang Luck, is a 2024 Locus Award Finalist. In their free time, Makana likes to hoard dice for their Dungeons & Dragons games, defeat bosses with their guildmates, and get way too invested in reality competition shows. They currently live in Boston with their wife and two cats.

This event is offered as part of the annual Malden Cosplay Celebration, a full day of games, contests and prizes, and performances celebrating cosplay in the Malden Gaming District. Though you are not required to participate in the larger event in order to attend this panel and signing, we encourage you to check out the very fun full schedule for the day!

Speculative Fiction Authors Panel & Signing

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Speculative Fiction Authors Panel & Signing

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